Lurking In The Shadows, yet In Bright Light
by Ageekygal
Summary: Peridot Greene is a freshman who just wants a normal life to balance a disastrous past and a possibly destructive future. High school life is hard enough already, owing to the many social challenges she could face here. But who knew that the saying of the race to survive this place could be so literal? Ship relevations later on...stay tuned!


p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Meeting dismissed…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The voice sent chills down Peridot Greene's spine. It had been years and she still hadn't grown accustomed to its goosebump-inducing nature. She hurriedly gathered her laptop and other belongings and proceeded out before she could get even more scared than she already was. Like every other day her backpack hung loosely around her shoulder and her footsteps were rather brisk before she came in front of a door that leads a gateway straight to hell. She didn't want to go. She had tried a number of things to escape its horrifying clutches, but she knew she had to. Her eyes raked over the door once again. Well, here we go…/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"High School./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The moment the corridor lay in front of her, she hung her head low and started to take normal length steps in what seemed to be a normal pace. The freshman never liked a lot of attention. She thought she could live perfectly sane without the consistent nagging of hyper students about whatever their teenage minds were currently obsessed with. So like every other day, she kept her face shielded from any eye contact and successfully dodged through the multitude of students that were crowding the halls to her first class- trigonometry./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Like every other day she sat on the same bench- third row, fifth seat. One could get a good look a her number of 'Camp Pining Hearts' symbols engraved on it when one sits on it. Like every other day she waited for her only friend, Jasper. Like every other day her hopes were futile as she arrived late. Like every other day she projects out her anger for whatever issue she might be feeling towards Peridot. Like every other day she silently endures her wrath, for she couldn't afford the single person who talked to her, even if she did take her for granted. Like every other she silently scribbled down some notes and a 'Percierre' doodle before the bell rand for her next class. Like every single day another few of her lessons went by. Like every other day she mentally cursed the time table when P.E. arrived./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was no surprise that Peridot hated Physical Education. She could do those warm up and stuff, maybe even run a few hundred meters, but downright despised 'Ball Season'. She couldn't bear everyone laughing at her as she clumsily misses the easiest of catches, like every other day./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"All in all, everything till now went like every other day, till it didn't./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She desperately wanted to escape. So, in the midst of the wave of students she quietly snuck out the corridor and made her way to the janitor's closet. On the outset it did seem mainstream, but little did everyone know that there was actually a passage that lead to an extension of the school. A part only a few selected people knew of. She never really went to it just because it gave her the willies, but today she didn't have much to do so why not? She pushed the cleaning carts away after scrunching her nose due to its pungent odour, and lightly pressed the wall. It opened up and she went down the stairs. The light sound of her footsteps could be heard, and she prayed no one was there who could land her up in trouble. She finally saw the wall that contained a number of gateways. There was nothing magical (yet) about them, but each did hold a certain mysterious element. She gets both excited and terrified facing them. As she proceeded further towards it, a faint voice was heard by her, singing. A chill runs down her spine./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'Maybe I'll find myself sitting on that distant shore…..'/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peridot appreciated music fairly. She wasn't a song-a-holic like the band people claimed themselves to be, but did like to hear quite a range of songs. But that, that had to be the most beautiful voice she'd ever heard. Better than any Grammy winning, a million views getting singer in her opinion. Her voice was tinkling, clear, passionate. Her emotions shone through, as if she really was missing sanctuary, and returning to it was a fantasy. That closure was a hallucination. A shattered dreamspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;". Peridot knew a thing or two about those./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her melody was magnetic, almost supernatural. Like a fairy. Slightly nasal, but that made it all the more entrancing. She had never had that much of an urge to approach anyone in her life, even including Jasper. She wanted to hear more of it. She pressed her ear on the door to hear her clearer. She then contemplated something. Should she acknowledge her presence? She did want to, to be honest. Even if they wouldn't talk, she could still sit beside her and treat her ears on her heavenly sound. But what it she got creeped out?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" Well, she had come this far, might as well check it out. What could possibly go wrong, right?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She gently turned the doorknob. She tried to keep its click as silent as possible. Once she did that, she didn't notice the singer's voice falter even a little. Meaning she didn't notice her yet./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"uAwesome start./u/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She walked inside with her footsteps as soft as possible, and closed the door behind her. She didn't notice her still./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"uGood going./u/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Maybe that place was an old storage unit or something, because there was a huge pile of boxes and whatnot in its centre. From down there she could see only the tiniest of details about her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The first thing she saw was a tuft of blue hair. She couldn't know its exact extent, but guessed it didn't go past her shoulders. It was rather unusual, for she never saw anyone with blue hair in her school. Being the unnoticeable kind she often observed a lot. She couldn't speak so she listened, couldn't be seen so saw. There were quite a few on and off trends on dying one's hair, but she was positive this student had never been in those corridors in her view. Maybe she wasn't able to observe as much still. Maybe. She quietly started to climb on the boxes, trying not to create a noisy mess. When she almost reached at the top was when her vision took her in. And she was not even a hair less aesthetically pleasing than her voice./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She wore a tank top that perfectly matched her hair. Her skirt was long and smooth, probably made of silk or similar material. A stack of books and files lay neatly beside her, some papers sticking out, probably to colour code her material. Her legs swung in time to her beat, which was almost textbook. She was leaning on her hands that were situated behind her, who she then saw move to one of her flower covered pens, and twist one of its tendrils, her fingers delicately twirling it, before she lifted her head as the lyrics flowed out of her effortlessly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'Maybe I'm not alone…'/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked absolutely divine. Just like a movie. A heart-stopping vision. It was unreal./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"uWoah/u/span…" she gasped in awe. She couldn't help it. Her encounter with her melody was just so- it just took her breath away. And just as her moment started, it was ruined. The girl probably didn't like visitors, or was very taken aback, or had a bad past with surprises, for she tensed up, took a huge terrifying gasp, peered over her shoulder ever so slightly, took her stuff and gracefully leaped down the huge mound in one go. Peridot could only catch a glimpse of her dark, black eyes before she ran. She tried to call out for her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wait! I swear I really liked your voice. It was pretty, um, pretty! I just want to talk, or just hear you. I swear I'm empty handed! I won't interrupt, I'm a nice girl, ask anyone out her. Please, don't go…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But no avail. She opened the door for the exit and rushed out. Peridot regretted for not attending P.E. lessons , for it took her quite some time to climb down. She was way too precautious for her own good sometimes doing such activities. When she'd reached down and stepped out, the mystery girl had vanished. But, she had left for her keepsake one of the many pages she had gotten along with her. It was unintentional she knew, but couldn't help but take it. It was a drawing./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A broken-lettered 'span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I'm okay'/span written in front of a single crying eye./p 


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